Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,644 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $16,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,609,742,000 after buying an additional 38,078 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $620,737,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $428,043,000 after acquiring an additional 566,116 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $388,045,000 after acquiring an additional 388,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $313,412,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Edward Jones began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $121.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $118.92.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.3%

Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $103.12. The stock had a trading volume of 831,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,390,571. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $97.85 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $108.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.61.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.71%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.